THE former chief justice, Anthony Mason, has broken his 37-year silence on his role in Australia's greatest political crisis to reveal that he advised John Kerr he should warn Gough Whitlam of his intention to sack his government in 1975.

Sir Anthony's comprehensive statement on his private conversations with the then governor-general, obtained exclusively by the Herald, asserts that Kerr was consistently counselled by his close friend against deceiving Mr Whitlam, but that this advice was ignored.

The statement reveals that at Kerr's request, Sir Anthony drafted a letter sacking Mr Whitlam but the governor-general chose not to use it. It also reveals he expressed relief when Kerr confided his intention to sack Mr Whitlam two days before the dismissal on November 11.

Former prime minister Gough Whitlam and former Governor General Sir John Kerr. Photo: Fairfax Archives

But Sir Anthony insists his expression of relief ''was not, and should not have been understood as, encouragement to dismiss the prime minister as Sir John had already announced his decision to take that step''.

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Rather, he says, he was relieved because ''I thought that the crisis should be resolved by a general election to be held before the summer vacation and any further delay could lead to instability''.

Sir Anthony's statement represents the final piece in the dismissal jigsaw and, rather than vindicate Kerr's actions, the statement makes plain that the governor-general deceived Mr Whitlam against the explicit advice of his closest confidant.

Former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. Photo: Fairfax Archives

Sir Anthony's decision to detail his role in a 3500-word statement - after steadfastly refusing for decades to comment - follows the discovery by the author Jenny Hocking of new documents written by Kerr. Hocking's biography, Gough Whitlam: His Time, will be released this week.

In the papers - lodged with the National Archives 15 years after Kerr's death in 1991 - Kerr asserts that Sir Anthony was the key influence who ''fortified'' him during the crisis that followed the Coalition's refusal to pass supply bills in the Senate.

''In the light of the enormous and vicious criticism of myself, I should have dearly liked to have had the public evidence during my lifetime of what Mason had said and done during October-November 1975 … [but] he would be happier … if history never came to know of his role,'' Kerr wrote.

''I shall keep the whole matter alive in my mind till the end, and if this document is found among my archives, it will mean that my final decision is that truth must prevail, and, as he played a most significant part in my thinking at that critical time, and as he will be in the shades of history when this is read, his role should be known.''

Signalling that Kerr wanted his version to be history's final word, the document Hocking uncovered was not ''to be read by anyone until all those concerned are dead''.

Told Kerr he should warn the prime minister that he would terminate his commission if he did not agree to hold a general election. ''The warning was not heeded'';

At no stage encouraged Kerr to dismiss Mr Whitlam;

Did not, as Kerr claimed, volunteer or agree to give a written opinion on shadow attorney-general Bob Ellicott's statement that he had the power to sack the prime minister;

Played no part in preparing Kerr's statement announcing his decision but at Kerr's request, prepared a draft letter terminating Whitlam's commission.

Interviewed by the Herald, Sir Anthony said the first inkling he had that Kerr had not warned Mr Whitlam he would be sacked if he refused to call a general election was when he read news reports on November 11.

A former solicitor-general, Sir Anthony was appointed to the High Court by the McMahon government in 1972. He had had no connections with either side of politics, which was one of the reasons Kerr cited for seeking his counsel.

''I wasn't advising him as a legal adviser. I was there in the capacity of a friend,'' Sir Anthony said.